Cathie Callery
Competitive skater with a giving heart
By Sydney Liebman
March 02, 2006
At 5-foot one-inch, Cathie Callery is an excellent example of good things coming in small packages. It’s hard to find an event where you don’t see her smiling face either as a volunteer or as a guest.
A competitive skater, Cathie began teaching everything from figure skating to power skating for hockey while attending Point Park University and continued teaching even after receiving a degree in Journalism and Communications.
She notes, “Some days I never left the ice, spending up to 12 hours per day at the rink.”
Then she and her husband Rob, a dentist with Ocean Oaks Dental Group, moved to Vero Beach in 1998.
She laughingly says, “When I moved here I was a fish out of water. I was a professional ice skater in Pittsburgh (Go Steelers!) and opportunities to skate in the Vero Beach area were slim.”
Initially intending to help promote her husband’s practice, Cathie became active with the Oceanside Business Association and has now been on its board for about five years. She did such a good job coordinating the Beer and Wine Garden at the OBA SunSet Saturday Night events, that fellow board member Karl Steene recruited her to join the Downtown Friday committee where she now manages their Beer and Wine Garden as well. As she says, “I’m just a serving wench – if it involves food or drink, I’m there.”
Cathie credits her neighbor Nancy Curtis with getting her involved with the Citrus Gala and Cattle Barons’ Ball to benefit the American Cancer Society.
She notes, “My grandmother passed away with cancer and I’ve got a friend with cancer. It touches so many people.”
Her husband Rob is now on the board of the American Cancer Society and Cathie chairs the popular broomstick horserace at the Gala.
Cathie also worked on the Healthy Start Coalition promotions committee, which just completed another successful Taste of the Treasure Coast. (Not to be confused with the upcoming April 19 Taste of Vero hosted by the OBA where she is also volunteering.)
Thinking it would be fun to work with young girls again, when Elizabeth Graves-Bass asked her to join the Miss Hibiscus Committee, Cathie readily agreed. She has been delighted to find that the pageant contestants are all very talented and deserving of the crown.
Once given a job this tenacious woman really sinks her teeth in and comments, “I’m a hard worker, and if you give me a job it’s going to get done. I just don’t want to let anyone down.” -- Mary Schenkel
How do you do it?
I like to work hard and keep busy – the busier the better
On your plate:
March 11 Citrus Gala & Cattle Baron’s Ball
Next up: April 19 Taste of Vero and April 21 Miss Hibiscus Pageant
I’ve always wanted to:
Compete in the Olympics
I’ve always wanted to meet: Patrick Dempsey
I’ve always wanted to have:
Straight hair
I make a wicked: Greek salad
Secret vice: Anything chocolate
One thing people don’t know about me:
I’m shy and more reserved than I appear
Biggest
lesson learned the hard way: Be careful who you tell what to
Favorite way to relax:
Reading
Favorite place to get away: Walking at Riverside Park
My epitaph should read:
She got the job done